Shortlisted for the 2020 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Prize This charming, bittersweet fable about the madness of war won its author the Gouden Lijst Prize for Children’s Literature in his native Netherlands, and comes lavished with gloriously intricate pen-and-ink illustrations by Ludwig Volbeda.- Financial Times A quick look at the illustrations … Continue reading #DutchKidLit – Tortot, the Cold Fish who Lost His World and Found His Heart by Benny Lindelauf
#DutchKidLit – A Pond Full of Ink: Annie M.G. Schmidt’s most beautiful children’s poems by Annie M.G. Schmidt
In the creative cosmos of beloved Dutch poet Annie M.G. Schmidt, anything is possible — and the more whimsical, the better. Her rollicking poems transform ordinary events and places into extraordinary adventures full of imagination.- Eerdlings: the official blog of Eerdman's Books for Young Readers The Man Who Writes Fairy Tales has run out of ink. Luckily for … Continue reading #DutchKidLit – A Pond Full of Ink: Annie M.G. Schmidt’s most beautiful children’s poems by Annie M.G. Schmidt
#DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 2 – The Subversive Wit of Annie M.G. Schmidt
"Never do what your mother tells you to do, then everything will be all right,” to quote Annie M.G. Schmidt. Just saying what you want to say, not making a fuss, breaking any rules that don’t make sense, and recalcitrant humour; these are the secrets of her pen [sic]."1911-1995 Annie M.G. Schmidt: Going against the … Continue reading #DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 2 – The Subversive Wit of Annie M.G. Schmidt
#DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 1 – Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl
Image: Canonslinger 2020 wall chart. The Canon of the Netherlands is a huge cultural project that tells a story about the historical and cultural development of the Netherlands from ± 5500 BC to present. The Canon was first conceived in 2006 and was recently updated in June 2020. It is now a 50-window timeline using … Continue reading #DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 1 – Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl
#WorldKidLitMonth September 2021 – Spotlight #DutchKidLit
When Karen Van Drie, the enthusiastic and dedicated Executive Director of Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, invited me to be the guest editor for the GLLI blog during World Kid Lit Month this year and to feature Dutch kid lit all month long, I was happy to do so because it would mean that I … Continue reading #WorldKidLitMonth September 2021 – Spotlight #DutchKidLit
#WITMonth-that’s a wrap!
It has been a joy and honor to have been the Guest Editor for #WITMonth for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog. I hope you have enjoyed the 26 books I have chosen as much as I have choosing them. I started this my book project two and a half years ago not knowing … Continue reading #WITMonth-that’s a wrap!
Day 26: 🇨🇱 Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile
In a Nutshell: On September 11th, 1973, as a result of a military coup, Chile fell into a 17 year long dictatorship. Many people died and disappeared, among those people were 34 children under 14. Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile is a collection of 34 poems, with each poem a tribute to … Continue reading Day 26: 🇨🇱 Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile
Day 24: 🇲🇰 A Spare Life
In a Nutshell: A coming-of-age epic from Two Lines Press, a publisher of translations. It is 1984 and twins, Zlata and Srebra, live in communist Yugoslavia, their bodies are conjoined at the head. The novel spans from their impoverished childhood in Skopje to 2012 Skopje with some time spent in London. I completely escaped into … Continue reading Day 24: 🇲🇰 A Spare Life
Day 23: 🇲🇺 Silence of the Chagos
In a Nutshell: What a gem of a book this is. It tells the story of Charlesia and Désiré, both from the island of Diego García. It is also about the plight of the Chagossian people, expelled from their archipelago to enable the United States to build one of their main military bases. The book … Continue reading Day 23: 🇲🇺 Silence of the Chagos
Day 22: 🇨🇴 Holiday Heart
I read this in an evening and a half. What a treat.Robayo’s prose is cutting, sardonic, precise and witty, brilliantly translated by Charlotte Coombe. In a Nutshell: Lucía and Pablo are a married couple, originally from Colombia they now live in the USA with their twins, Rosa and Tomás. We meet the family just as … Continue reading Day 22: 🇨🇴 Holiday Heart
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 